Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

fried

1 American  
[frahyd] / fraɪd /

adjective

  1. cooked in a pan or on a griddle over direct heat, usually in fat or oil.

  2. Slang.

    1. drunk; inebriated.

    2. intoxicated from drugs; high.

    3. exhausted or incapacitated through intemperance; burned-out.

verb

  1. simple past tense and past participle of fry.

Fried 2 American  
[freed, freet] / frid, frit /

noun

  1. Alfred Hermann 1864–1921, Austrian writer and journalist: Nobel Peace Prize 1911.

fried British  
/ fraɪd /

verb

  1. the past tense and past participle of fry 1

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • refried adjective
  • unfried adjective

Etymology

Origin of fried

First recorded in 1350–1400, for the adjective

Explanation

Things that are fried are cooked in very hot fat or oil. You can order fried rice at a Chinese restaurant, or fried clams at your favorite seafood place. Some foods are lightly stir fried, while others are submerged in boiling oil and deep fried. At a state fair, there are offerings including fried dough and fried chicken, and it's even possible to eat fried candy bars or fried ice cream. Colloquially, someone who's exhausted might say, "I'm totally fried." Fried comes from the verb fry, which has the Latin root frigere, both "to fry" and "to roast."

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Our tablemates had purchased a litany of fried options, including scotch eggs from the Quail Inn, which also serves bacon-wrapped jalapeño peppers, cheese fritters and “whole, partially deboned quail.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026

Burger chains still lead the U.S. fast food industry, generating twice as much in overall sales as second-ranked fried chicken chains, according to Technomic.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

They aren’t just stale; to use Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy’s excellent new phrase, they’re as “dead as fried chicken.”

From MarketWatch • Mar. 11, 2026

Go to the Marché des Enfants Rouges in the 3rd arrondissement in Paris for fresh oysters and a cheese plate, or to the Marché des Carmes in Toulouse for some lamb chops and fried scallops.

From Barron's • Mar. 8, 2026

We had fried trout afterward and some sort of a stew and a big bowl full of wild strawberries.

From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.